Lille tangguldsmed (Onychogomphus forcipatus)
• English name: Small Pincertail
• German name: Kleine Zangenlibelle
• French name: Gomphe à forceps
• Dutch name: Kleine tanglibel
• Swedish name: Stenflodtrollslända
• Norwegian name: Tang-elveøyenstikker
• Finnish name: Pihtijokikorento
• Danish name: Lille tangguldsmed
• Italian name: Gonfo forcipato
• Czech name: klínatka vidlitá
• Slovenian name: Bledi peščenec
• Bulgarian name: Щипесто цигулче
Lille tangguldsmed (Onychogomphus forcipatus)
Not present
Present before 1990
Present after 1990
Present before and after 1990
Present after 2015

Map data based on J.-P. Boudot & V. J. Kalkman (eds.),
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies
General | • a medium-sized black-and-yellow species which is fairly common throughout Europe except the British Isles and the far north | |
Classification | • suborder: Anisoptera (dragonflies); family: Gomphidae | |
Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern (but ssp. albotibialis: Near Threatened) | |
Scientific name | • Onychogomphus forcipatus (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
Habitat | • rocky streams and rivers, but sometimes also at lakes | |
Dimensions | • typical body length: 46-50 mm; hindwing: 25-30 mm | |
Notes | • gomphids are 'sitters': they spend a lot of time perched on rocks and vegetation | |
Both sexes | Head | ➤ like in all other gomphids, the eyes are widely separated |
• the eyes are typically grey-green | ||
➤ there is a yellow bar on the black vortex | ||
Thorax | ➤ the black lines on the side of the thorax are thin and wavy, leaving a wide antehumeral stripe, and they usually meet the mid-dorsal black stripe | |
Male | Abdomen | ➤ there is a subterminal knob on the lower appendage |
Photographs | • many of our photos below were made in Italy and Spain and show the subspecies O. f. unguiculatus | |
• those photos made in Turkey show the subspecies O. f. albotibialis |
LineDrawing: the female's head, thorax and abdomen in lateral view.